Heat and Husbands
by pinkblacktiara
Summary: Kally has lived in Carthrak for a few months, and is utterly miserable. Her subjects don't like her, she misses home, and Kaddar barely talks to her. Will anything change? Oneshot.


**A/N: Oneshot, I wrote it for a friend.**

Kalasin of Conte, known as Kally to those she liked, daughter of the Tortallan throne, now Empress of Carthrak, hadn't been in charge of her wardrobe for the past twenty-four hours. She had been pinned up, tightened, squeezed, pinned down, pulled, draped and pinned again, all in hopes that the 'Tortallan savage' would be at least semi-decent for the biggest ball she had seen yet.

She hadn't bothered squealing or protesting or anything she would have done in Tortall. She simply kept her imperial head high, praying it'd be over soon.

The end result had Kally almost suffocating under the heat. A golden undershift had been draped over her, long sleeves, flowy and light. White, billowing skirts had been added and added, golden thread weaving in and out in intricate designs, until Kally's waist had felt so heavy, she was certain she wouldn't be able to lift her legs. Finally another golden piece was added, falling off the sides of her skirt so the many layers of white were revealed. A silk sash was tied tightly around her waist, working better than a corset. Then, a gold top had been added, light and thin compared to her heavy shifts and skirts, but still tight on her waist and heavy on her bust line. Her hair had then been curled and put down, the thick masses covering the back of her neck and making her even hotter. All in all, she wasn't sure she would be able to walk, let alone dance with her husband.

She sighed at that thought while the maids fussed over the last few details of her jewelry. She had been in this humid land, so unlike her beloved Tortall, for a few months, and (aside from the first night of her wifely duties) had barely seen Kaddar, let alone talked to him. She remembered Daine telling her about Kaddar, when Kally had been told she would marry him. _'He's a good man,' _the Wildmage had told her, _'But he has his flaws, just like anyone else. He'll be a good husband, Kally, he really will be. He's not the type to do wrong by you. Just give both of you some time.' _

Time, of course. Time, time, time. Kally was getting tired of 'time', and was quite ready to burst into his office and demand that he talk to her, say _something_! But no, that wouldn't be 'correct'. Honestly, she had more freedom in her youth in Tortall than she did as an Empress in Carthrak.

She was being ushered into the tall hallways, the huge room which had staggered when she first came, through the round chambers. The delicate rooms, the gorgeous paints and other luxuries past by her; these things no longer making her look in wonder around her.

She came. She was announced, she ate, she smiled when dictated of her. It seemed to be horrible; this was what was expected of her. She was a shell here, her mind wasn't there. So long as her bejeweled body was present, the Empress's mind could have been in the Copper Isles, for all it mattered. Her mind was actually in Tortall, dreaming of the snow that she had taken for granted, her brother Roald's seriousness that she would tease, thinking of her youngest brother Jasson who ran around the castle, knocking into everyone on the way, the lakes that littered the palace land and how she would swim, her favorite mare, Wind Dancer…. All the things she left behind to live in this stuffy, overdone palace; to be Empress of people who disliked her at best, and to be married to someone she had shared all of three words with.

She was vaguely aware that she was supposed to get up now, and dance with said husband. Her body felt distant as she took his hand to dance; her mind couldn't have been farther away.

This went on for seconds or years until a smooth, low voice interrupted her as she fell on her behind while ice skating with her mother. "Do they do these often in Tortall?"

She shook her head slightly, dazed, as she identified the speaker as Kaddar. He was smiling slightly, his expression open.

"Not often," she admitted. "Normally this would be an affair for something more important."

His eyebrows creased as he asked, "Like what?"

She answered, and he quizzed her on more of Tortallan history, seeming genuinely interested.

_Maybe this won't be so bad._


End file.
